Expert profile — Profil d'expert

In cognitive science and machine intelligence, it is sometimes useful to bring the techniques of one discipline to bear on another. In the study of natural language systems, for example, computer models and data structures have supported knowledge representation in terms of syntax, semantics and prag- matics. The cross-fertilising effect of paradigms is a favourite theme of Mercer's. A special project in this area treats the thorny problem of generating the assumptions behind a speech act as a problem in knowledge representation. Default logic, originally developed to formalise various aspects of common sense reasoning, plays a role here. It might even lead to question-answering systems that work.